Carrier Corp., and Guangdong Midea Electric Appliances Co., Ltd. have agreed to form to form a joint venture to manufacture air-conditioning equipment.
The JV — Foshan Midea Carrier Air Conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd. — will be located in Shunde on the Pearl River Delta. Midea will hold a 60% share of the JV and Carrier will hold the remaining stock. He XiangJian, chairman of the Midea Electric board, and Geraud Darnis, chairman and president of Carrier Corp., jointly signed the agreement in Guangzhou on July 2, 2008.
The JV will manufacture residential and light commercial duct-free split air-conditioning systems exclusively for Carrier to sell on the global market. It is expected that the plant will be operational by the end of the year.
"The Midea-Carrier joint venture is a milestone in Carrier's long and successful relationship with Midea," said Darnis. "This venture brings together the strengths of two leaders in the global air-conditioning industry."
"Carrier has a rich history in China and this investment demonstrates our ongoing commitment to China and its HVACR markets," he added.
The joint investment of the two partners in the new company will be around CNY200 million.
Fang Hongbo, president of Midea Electric Co., Ltd., said, "Our new JV is aimed to be a stable, long-term platform of capital, product, technical and brand cooperation and alliance between Midea and Carrier. We will take full advantage of this opportunity to draw on manufacturing, technical and management experience from both parties to accelerate the globalization of the new venture."
As well as Foshan Midea Carrier Air Conditioning Equipment Co., Ltd, Midea Air Conditioning and Toshiba Carrier Corp. have four operational manufacturing JVs in which Carrier Corp. is an indirect investor through its holdings in Toshiba Carrier.